Syrian forces bombard Aleppo from ground and air

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian warplanes and ground forces pounded the country's largest city Aleppo with bombs and mortar rounds on Saturday as soldiers clashed with rebels in its narrow streets, activists said.

The latest violence shows that government troops are still struggling to clear the city of lightly-armed rebel forces nearly five weeks after they stormed their way into it.

Activists also said rebels captured an air defense facility in the east of the country near the border with Iraq, where opposition forces have claimed advances over the past days.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes in Aleppo were concentrated in several tense neighborhoods — Hanano, Bustan al-Qasr, Sukkari and Maysar. It reported injuries and damage to buildings.

Another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said the government was making heavy use of warplanes in attacking rebel areas.

A video obtained by The Associated Press Television News showed rebel fighters, some in civilian clothes, in the street trading fire with government troops.

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